R. D. B. Speaks

For thirty years Editor-in-chief of the Daily Express in London, England’s most celebrated journalist and chairman of the Board of Directors of the London Daily Express

All signs seem to point to a moderation of the Nazi war against the Jews. The German Federal Minister of Justice made a declaration this week at the Leipzig conference of jurists, indicating that the slowing down process has already begun, though great mischief having already been accomplished, there appears scant hope of complete cessation.

As for the status quo, we must make up our minds that this can never be regained, at least not in the lifetime of this or even the next generation. The game of bullying and browbeating a defenceless minority, is far too fascinating to the barbarian mind to be dropped at a mere official behest.

“We are anti-Semitic, it is true,” says von Keller, Nazi delegate at Geneva, but he goes on to say, in effect, “observe how noble, how generous minded we are, for we do not prohibit the Jews from following their religious devotions.” That is kind!

There is only one thing to say about any modification of Hun ruthlessness, namely, that as long as the usurpers of Germany refuse to restore their Jewish victims to the full and indisputable rights of citizenship, so long will Jewry throughout the world resort to the severest methods to combat them. If and when the German government, whether Nazi or not, will revert to the rightful course, then the Jews in and out of Germany will cease their opposition. Not until then, and you may be as sure of this as you are of the tides, will the time come.

Meanwhile, is it not time that we took stock? Is it not just a trifle foolish to think and talk of evacuating Germany of all its Jews and sending them, where? To Palestine? To Madagascar? South America? It is an impossible suggestion and defeats itself after a two minutes examination. But let us suppose that by Herculean efforts we succeed in getting all the Jews out of Germany, thus relieving Germany of a heavy responsibility for which she would certainly be grateful.

For we have lived to learn that Germany does not love her Jews and would be grateful to be absolved of their care. Well, there are fifteen million Jews in the world and it is no use blinking the fact that for one or many reasons they are not the most popular citizens of most countries.

Since we succeeded in withdrawing the Jews from Germany, and incidentally leaving the dear Aryans to breathe the now purified Nordic air, and, incidentally, to find their own lower intellectual level, might we not expect at once that the other countries would follow suit and say, “Germany got rid of the Jews through your help, you must now do the same for us and thus assist us in relieving our economic problems.” I can foresee all sorts of pitfalls in such a contingency. No, the best thing to do is to punish Germany, first by forcing her to do justice to her German citizens, and, secondly, by keeping them where they are. The only thing one could regret about such a state of affairs is that these anchored Jews would continue to refine and uplift the German arts, crafts and services while the poor deluded squareheads would go on kidding themselves that they and only they did it. Besides as I pointed out before, the majority of Jews in Germany, whether persecuted or not, appear ready to sacrifice anything for the sake of being called German. Thoroughly bad taste, I call it, but “die armen leute wissen nicht besser.”

I would like to point out to those who appear confused on the subject of Fascism that the term does not mean anti-Semitism. Mussolini, the purest of Fascists, is certainly not to be charged with an anti-Jewish bias. I saw it stated too that the British Fascists are essentially anti-Jewish, which is equally untrue. Sir Oswald Mosley, head of the Black Shirts in England, is decidedly of my opinion on this score. His theory is that it is pure nonsense to build a national movement on the unsecure foundation of our mixed blood. England for instance, is composed of a multiplicity of races, “that,” says Sir Oswald, “is what made her great.” To attack Jews, merely because they are Jews, is illogical as well as stupid.

On the fringe of the Mosley movement, which comes as near being nationalistic as it can be in England, there are half a dozen little comic-shirted organizations which seek to attract attention through bizarre methods, one of them being the easily attained anti-Semitic pose. But on the whole, public opinion is amused by their antics.